Most systems for processing the sale of products are seller-driven, whereby the seller prices, packages, configures and offers the product for sale, and the buyer decides whether or not to accept the seller's offer. In a buyer-driven system, however, the buyer dictates the terms of the offer and one or more sellers decide whether or not to accept the offer. A "help wanted" advertisement, for example, is a buyer-driven inquiry since the employer is looking to locate and buy the services of a qualified employee. The inquiry is advertised to a large number of potential employees, who may respond by submitting their resumes to the prospective employer.
Priceline.com, Incorporated of Stamford, Conn. is a merchant that has successfully implemented a buyer-driven system for the sale of products, such as airline tickets and automobiles. Priceline.com utilizes a Conditional Purchase Offer (CPO) Management System, described in the parent and grandparent applications to the present invention, that processes conditional purchase offers received from individual buyers. These conditional purchase offers contain one or more buyer-defined conditions for the purchase of goods or services, at a buyer-defined price. They are typically guaranteed by a general-purpose account, such as a debit or credit account, and thereby provide sellers with a mechanism for enforcing any agreement that may be reached with the buyer. The conditional purchase offers are provided by the CPO Management System to sellers, either directly or using seller-supplied rates, for individual sellers to either accept or reject. If a seller accepts a conditional purchase offer, the CPO Management System binds the buyer on behalf of the accepting seller, to form a legally binding contract.
Thus, the CPO Management System empowers individual buyers to obtain goods and services at a price set by the buyer. The CPO Management System provides numerous commercial advantages to sellers as well. For example, the CPO Management System permits individual sellers to effectively sell excess capacity when actual demand fails to meet forecasted demand. In particular, the CPO Management System provides an effective mechanism for sellers to be confident that if they accept a buyer's offer, the buyer will purchase the requested goods or services at the agreed-upon price, and not just use the information to ascertain the seller's underlying level of price flexibility, which, if known to a seller's competitors or customers, could impact the seller's overall revenue structure.
For many transactions, the CPO Management System will effectively complete transactions in this manner. Invariably, however, a percentage of buyers will submit purchase offers that are not acceptable to any seller, often because the price offered by the buyer is too low. The success of the CPO Management System depends, at least in part, on its utilization by a large number of both buyers and sellers. Specifically, buyers are incented to submit conditional purchase offers if they know the conditional purchase offers will be reviewed by a large number of potential sellers. Sellers are incented to consider conditional purchase offers if they can expect a large number of attractive offers. In addition to being a lost business opportunity, unacceptable conditional purchase offers require buyers and sellers to spend time submitting and reviewing such conditional purchase offers. Thus, buyers and sellers alike may be frustrated and discouraged from utilizing the CPO Management System, if the acceptance rate for submitted conditional purchase offers does not meet satisfactory levels.
Thus, while it is important to increase buyer demand generally, it is even more desirable to stimulate demand in a manner that encourages buyers to submit conditional purchase offers that are more likely to be accepted by sellers. In addition, in order to curb buyer dissatisfaction in the event that a conditional purchase offer is not accepted, and to reduce the perceived difficulties that may be associated with submitting a conditional purchase offer, it is desirable to compensate buyers who are unable to obtain the sought-after product.